As a result of our efforts to restore our acreage to a more natural state, we have been blessed with an abundance of living creatures, and Regina has been able to capture most of these in her photographs. In case you didn’t know, Regina is a very good photographer who spends a lot of time and effort creating some magnificent shots. Here are a few of her more than 2500 photos of the species we have:

Butterflies

We have 17 different species of butterflies that have visited our habitat. All these are great pollinators, so our plants benefit from their presence. Plus, they are pleasant to watch.

Checkered White

Monarch

Gray Hairstreak

Painted Lady

Queen

Variegated Fritillary

Western White

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Fiery Skipper

Funerreal Duskywing

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Mostly around our ponds, the dragonflies and damselflies have been prolific, especially since we stopped mowing and weed-eating. The rain this Summer has also helped. These are beautiful and mysterious creatures.

Roseate Skimmer – male

Eastern Pondhawk – female

Eastern Amberwing

Common Spreading Damselfly

Blue Dasher – male

Black Saddlebag

Widow Skimmer – female

Widow Skimmer – male

Bees

When we talk about bees, we are generally limiting our conservation to honey bees, but here are photos of 4 different species of bees in our environment. Honey bees were imported from Europe, but the rest of these are native. Although all of them help with the pollination efforts, the native bees are actually more efficient pollinators than the honey bees.

Bumblebee

Honeybee

Mason Bee

Carpenter Bee

Birds

With feeders, water, and foliage in abundance, the birds are happy to visit us. Here are some shots of the more than 25 species of birds and water fowl we have been able to enjoy in our little oasis.

Cardinal

Mallard – female

Muskovy Duck

Canadian Geese with Goslings

Blue Jay

Ruby Throat Hummingbird

Screech Owl

Cattle Egret

Cooper’s Hawk

Tufted Titmouse

Great Blue Heron

Bewick’s Wren

Eastern Bluebirds

Killdeer

Red-tailed Hawk

Woodpecker

Wildlife

Although most of the wildlife is nocturnal, such as skunks, raccoons, and coyotes, Regina was able to catch this cutie one morning this week. He or she seemed very camera shy. We also have rabbits and squirrels, and even a feral cat that hangs around sometimes.

Raccoon

By the way, we did receive our certification from Texan by Nature. This organization was founded by former First Lady Laura Bush. The purpose of the organization is to develop and encourage projects just like the one we are implementing. Some of the projects are much larger than ours, but as I said at the beginning, we are only responsible for our little piece of ground.

4 Responses to That’s What It’s All About

Congratulations on your certification and you must be doing something right to have all those critters visiting. I so much believe in what you are doing! I think you were testing my eyesight as the photos were so tiny but it is obvious that Regina is an excellent photographer and she must have fun documenting it all. Even though I have just a tiny fenced garden in the suburbs of Dallas, I too am trying to attract wildlife and take my camera out daily. I now have a little wild bunny that has made my little cottage garden his home. I have named him Ronnie Rabbit and he is delightful! And, of course I will share my flowers with him! If you have time… here is a link to my garden this year: https://www.flickr.com/photos/88326925@N08/albums/72157690350825371/page1

Thank you, Fay. I enjoy seeing your photos as well. The ones in this post needed to be small, so I could get a bunch of them in. It is too bad you and Regina live so far apart, I think you would enjoy each other’s company.